Dear Sir,
The attached submission is relevant to the evidence being
presented to the Royal Commission hearings into the uranium
industry.
I trust this information will help the Commission in its deliberations.
Kindest regards
Kevin R Kakoschke OAM
'NUKE' OR POLLUTE?
Recent editions of the 'Advertiser', Saturday Dec. 13, and the 'Australian', Saturday Dec. 13,
2014, highlighted two contentious environment issues, namely the reduction of carbon
emissions and nuclear energy. The production of electricity using nuclear energy as the
power source was an option for reducing carbon emissions. But what of the radioactive
waste?
Where did the nuclear dilemma in Australia begin?
Radioactive uranium/radium was discovered at Radium Hill, South Australia in 1906 by
Arthur Smith.
The use of radium for producing electricity was highlighted way back in 1906. A newspaper
article stated; 'that one ounce of it is equal to one hundred thousand nominal horsepower'.
...and that small quantity would be sufficient to drive or propel three of the largest battleships
afloat for a period of two thousand years.
By 1912, there were thirty-five miners working in the mine at Radium Hill extracting the
uranium/radium bearing ore which was concentrated before being dispatched to Hunters Hill
in Sydney for further processing into radium bromide (350mgms) and uranium (150kgms).
Many of these men had links with Broken Hill.
In 1913 an article in the 'Adelaide Register' newspaper claimed,
'It will mean that foreign nations will be obliged to seek from us the power wherewith
to heat and light their cities, and find means of defence and offence,...The small space for
storing radium would be infinitesimally small in comparison to that required for the storing of
oil, coal or coke,...
...Its full value and resources should be exploited by the people for the people of Australia'.
How prophetic, one hundred years on.
It wasn't just that the uranium/radium was useful for energy purposes, it had medicinal
applications as well.
As noted in the equivalent of the 'Australian Medical Journal ' at the time;
Dr. Herman Lawrence, a Melbourne doctor 'stated that Australian radium has been
found effective in treating cancer cases'.
He went on to say;
'The Radium Hill Co. South Australia, sent a ten milligram specimen of radium
bromide to me, asking me to examine same therapeutically.....I have also treated cases of
keratoses, rodent ulcers, epithelioma,... and the results have been very satisfactory... its being
used in the treatment of inoperable malignant growths and likewise being applied after
operations for cancer, etc., in order to try and prevent a recurrence of the disease, there should
be plenty of demand for all that can be produced in Australia, and as I understand the radium
carrying ore exists at Radium Hill in large quantities, it may yet be a valuable export'.
It is amazing that the beneficial uses of radioactive ores was established way back in the early
1900's and that it had export potential even then.
That same year of 1913 saw the birth take place at Radium Hill of a little baby boy whose
proud parents John and Eliza named him Radium, yes, Radium Keith Lively.
Unfortunately, when the mine closed in 1914, the Lively family and others, moved to Broken
Hill, where in 1917, young Radium succumbed to the influenza epidemic which was raging at
the time in the Hill.
In 1923 the mine was reopened by the Radium and Rare Earths Co. During a few days hectic
trading in 1924, the shares zoomed from £3 to £19-10-0 each. No doubt some of the Broken
Hill share trading 'entrepreneurs' would have had a slice of this action. The mine closed again
in 1931.
In 1940, the Australian Mining and Smelting Company, a subsidiary of the Consolidated Zinc
Corporation of Broken Hill took up the lease but gave it up after being unsuccessful in
treating the complex ores.
In 1944, Reg Sprigg conducted a geological appraisal of the deposit which led to diamond
drilling in 1947 and setting up a 50 man, exploration camp in 1949. This work indicated a
potential mine for uranium. The uranium would be used for military purposes by the
American and British interests. The Premier of South Australia, Thomas Playford had other
ideas.
He wanted a share of it to be used as the energy source for producing electricity, a nuclear
reactor.
His development schedule was;
June 1954, commencement of an experimental nuclear reactor design.
January 1960, commencement of nuclear reactor construction.
January 1962, experimental nuclear reactor on stream.
The nuclear reactor was to be located at Backy Bay (Fitzgerald) just north of Whyalla.
The reactor would produce electricity and desalinate water.
Unfortunately for Premier Playford, a nuclear research reactor was built in NSW instead.
Maybe BHP will reactivate this concept to produce electricity for refining its copper etc. in
Australia at Olympic Dam rather than overseas. It could also replace the polluting Pt.
Augusta brown coal fired power station when it closes.
The new power station would provide employment opportunities for workers at both Pt.
Augusta and Whyalla.
As an added bonus it could also produce hydrogen to reduce reliance on oil products for use
in motor cars.
The Radium Hill uranium mine operated from 1954 until 1961. During the life of the mine,
Broken Hill was the magnet for house wives to do their shopping and the single men to
socialise and play sports.
(A popular rendezvous for the single miners was the pubs and the 'Orange Spot Milk Bar'.
Two beautiful girls served behind the counter at the milk bar and a popular order by the men
was for a milk shake or an ice cream. Such an order meant that the girls needed to bend right
over to scoop up an ice cream. The men would 'watch' the girls intently as they fulfilled their
order and it wasn't to make sure that the ice cream scoop was full).
The experimental phase of metallurgically treating the Radium Hill ore at the AMDEL
Laboratories, Thebarton, Adelaide, meant that radioactive waste was produced. In the 1970's
such public pressure was exerted on the Government of the day that on 2nd April 1981, they
Gazetted 247 hectares at Radium Hill to be the site of a Low Level Radioactive Waste
Repository.
This was the first such State Government Radio active waste repository site to be
Gazetted in Australia.
It complies with the nine site selection criteria of The National Health and Medical Research
Council.
Low Level Radioactive waste in 200 litre drums, mainly comprising contaminated soil, was
transported to the site and buried in what was the old slimes (sands) dam. One load had three
drums placed at the rear of the semi-trailer, as far away from the driver as possible for the
journey, why? The last load was buried in 1998.
In late 1997 contaminated radioactive wastes from the Beverley uranium leaching trials were
also buried at the Radium Hill repository site.
In 2005, when a national radioactive waste repository site was being sought, the Premier of
South Australia Mike Rann, was very vocal in his objection to it being located in South
Australia, as was the anti-nuclear lobby 'fear industry'.
The Premier of the time didn't want such a site in his State.
He conveniently overlooked the Government Gazetted Radium Hill low level radioactive
waste repository site for which he was ultimately responsible and treated the South Australian
public as mushrooms by feeding them political bullshit. The Adelaide Metropolitan area has
62 'known' scattered sites in which radioactive material is stored, why not just one?
If it's OK to use the products of a nuclear reactor in the form of Cesium-137 and other
radioactive isotopes for nuclear medicine including the treatment of cancer (over 300,000
doses of medical radioisotopes are produced each year) and the industrial applications of
cobalt-60 and americium-241, then surely it must be acceptable to use nuclear reactors to
produce carbon free electricity.
On principle, it would be hypocritical to think otherwise.
You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Sweden has developed an intermediate level nuclear waste site which will have the waste
buried in a shaft and tunnels 500 metres underground from 2015. Radium Hill has a shaft 420
metres deep and at least one drive (tunnel) 1.8m W x 2.2m H x 905m long. Could it be used
for storing the container of reprocessed reactor rods enclosed in stainless steel cylinders and
synroc type material and due to be delivered back into Australia in 2015? Up to ten personnel
would be required to oversee the storage of waste at the site during the storage operation.
Maybe Broken Hill folk would find work opportunities during this phase?
Or would the spent rods be stored in Federal Parliament house during the 10 months that
Parliament won't be in session? A bit cynical of Parliamentarians? Yes.
It would give impetus for Parliamentarians to make a decision rather than appoint another
committee to look into the matter as they have been prone to do over the last forty five years
and which has cost the Australian taxpayer millions of dollars which could have been better
spent on hospitals and education.
Legacies of Radium Hill are of National significance as the following list illustrates.
RADIUM HILL
HISTORIC LEGACIES AND A CATALYST
1. It was Australia’s first Uranium mine (1906)
2. In 1981 Radium Hill became the first Australian State Government Gazzetted Radio-active
waste Dump site. (S.A. Government Gazette 2nd. April 1981)
3. The Uranium Ore was named Davidite by Sir Douglas Mawson (Trans. Royal Soc. S.Aust.
V.30 1906)
4. Sir Douglas proposed the name Radium Hill for the site on the 4th. September 1906 and it
possibly became the only such town to be named by him. (As per Pt.3 above)
5. Sir Douglas Mawson also had a half share in one of the mines along the line of lode. (Lette
from Sir Douglas Mawson to Sir Maurice Mawby in 1940).
6. Perhaps the longest lasting and most tangible relic of the Radium Hill ghost town will be th
main shaft head frame ore bin constructed from re-inforced concrete and having a ore holding
capacity of 100tons plus mullock of 40tons a total of 140tons, claimed to be the biggest such
structure in the Southern hemisphere. (Peter Hill, former S.A. Dept. of Mines special projects
engineer). A pair of peregrine falcons have been using this site to raise their young.
7. The 2000ton capacity crushed ore receiving bin constructed from re-inforced concrete and
the concrete 2million gallon capacity fresh water tank on top of ‘Tank Hill’.
8. The Arthur J Smith Monument at Radium Hill: paying tribute to the prospector who
discovered the mineral deposit in 1906 near the site.
9. It was the first uranium mine in Australia to enter into an export agreement for selling its
product overseas.(Norton Jackson)
10. In 1955 the Radium Hill Project was the first mining organization in Australia to take to
court the matter of manning light air-leg mounted rock drills, to have one man to a machine. I
was successful in the case and set a precedent for the Australian mining industry. (Judge
Pellew-Moore).
11. It was the first time in the world that the boiling concentrated sulphuric acid technique wa
used to further process Davidite uranium bearing ore. (Norton Jackson)
12. At Radium Hill the heavy media milling process was used for separating hard rock ore for
the first time in Australia.(Norton Jackson)
13. A Barite mine was established near Quorn to provide material for the processing of uraniu
concentrate at Pt. Pirie and later to be a source of dense aggregate for the Lucas Heights
Project. (Norton Jackson)
14. A pyrite mine was opened near Nairne as a source of base materials for the
manufacture of sulphuric acid, which was also used in the processing of
uranium concentrates at the Pt. Pirie treatment plant.(‘Above and Below”, by B.
O’Neil)
15. The S.A. and Federal Government together with the mining industry
established the Australian Mineral Development Laboratories or AMDEL as it
is known, to keep together the various research science specialists associated
with the exploration, mining and milling requirements of Radium Hill and
subsequently the broader Australian mining community as a whole.( Sir Ben S.
Dickinson tape, Norton Jackson and “Above and Below”).
16. The pool of experts so gathered at AMDEL and the Mines Dept. prompted
Sir Eric Rudd to help form The Australian Mineral Foundation in Adelaide
which acts as a focus for the Australian mining industry. (“Above and Below”
by B. O’Neil and also Norton Jackson)
17. In the 1950's, it was envisioned that a nuclear reactor may be located on
Spencer Gulf to generate electricity and desalinate water using Radium Hill
uranium as its energy source. (“Above and Below” By B. O’Neil)
18. A survey of former Radium Hill miners revealed that by 1987, 54 had died
of lung cancer. It indicated a significant increase in the risk of contacting lung
cancer when compared to the general population. Many more have died since.
The results of this survey by the Department of Community Medicine, Adelaide
University and the S.A. Health Commission has led in part to the
implementation of regulations for safer working conditions in the uranium
mines of today. (“Above and Below” by B. O’Neil. SEARCH Vol.22, Num.4
June 1991. Cancer Causes and Control, Vol.2. 1991).
RADIUM HILL
“THE BIG C”
Down in the earth’s bowels as black as night
The miners would go, following their light
With rock drill, steels, and a bundle of hoses
A packet of “Dets” and later, explosives
They’d bore their holes eight feet or more
Then tamp in “gelly’ got from the store
The fuses long with a det on, crimped
Rammed in last before you could blink
A waxened match to fuse they’d light
Then hasten clear for their very life
Five minutes or more they’d wait to hear
The crack of explosions blasting their ear
A whoosh of air along the drives would wash
Spiked with the Radon gas, a cancerous cost
Many didn’t know the risk they took
When they bogged, bored, and fired, all by the “book”
Till some years later when the “big C” appeared
And 54 families lost their Miner dear
No compo paid I seem to hear?
Kevin Kakoschke
6/9/02
19. Ninety house number and former occupant name plaques have been erected
on former house and business premises around the old town site making this a
rather unique way of recognizing our past cultural heritage.
20. The town layout was in keeping with Government “public service” tradition
of the 1950’s where the housing of senior staff, staff, married daily paid and
single daily paid men were built as separate clusters around a centrally located
array of sporting venues and some shops. Building legacies of the town are still
evident today.
21. Radium Hill was one of the few Government Projects that made a profit.(Sir
Thomas Playford, Premier of South Australia in Hansard 1961, )
22. The Radium Hill Historical Association Inc. was formed by ex-Radium Hill
Residents to establish and preserve the historic and cultural heritage of the
former Radium Hill town, mine, Radium Hill Pioneers Cemetery and Radium
Hill Heritage Museum.
23. Perhaps part of the former approx. 2000 hectare uranium mining reserve
could now be listed on the State Heritage Register, in recognition of Sir Douglas
Mawson’s involvement with Radium Hill and of its unique historical and
cultural contribution to the Australian mining industry.
Twenty three former residents requested that on their death, their ashes be
interred in the Radium Hill Pioneer Cemetery. This has been carried out
together with the erection of mine rock headstones to mark their final resting
place. Each Easter, scores of ex-residents make the pilgrimage back to Radium
Hill to pay their respects to their loved ones who have paid the supreme
sacrifice for the uranium mining industry.
The Cemetery and surrounds are their sacred site.
As recognition of Radium Hill's importance to the Australian uranium industry
and to the sacrifices made by people who had worked in Radium Hill which
has added to the ongoing safety precautions employed in the mines of today,
perhaps declaring the Radium Hill site to be of national heritage significance
would be a small token of appreciation.
The former Department of Conservation and Heritage conducted an appraisal of
the area in 2003 and deemed that it should be placed on the State's Heritage
register, but as yet it has not happened.
Why not?
A few years ago, a consulting firm looked into the possibility of South Australia
being a repository for international radioactive waste. At the time, they
estimated that it would be approx. a $20 billion industry for South Australia.
Some of the above information is contained in the 398 page book; 'OFF THE BARRIER
HIGHWAY' written by the author of this article and is available from the author, price $39.
Address; Contact Details Removed
Kevin R Kakoschke OAM
13/3/2015
The Radium Hill Mine Main Shaft area buildings and ore bins, 1950's
The 'Ghostly' Radium Hill Main Shaft ore bins 2010 and the FX Holden 50 years later.
Radium Hill Low Level Radioactive Waste Repository (Dump) 2010.
A miner on a stage ladder boring holes for
explosives high up in an underground stope.
Radium Hill Historical Assn. Inc.
President: Kevin R. Kakoschke OAM 13/3/2015.